Brad Pitt Confirms Quentin Tarantino’s Interested in Making a ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ TV Show

One of the more interesting contradictions in the world of Quentin Tarantino is the fact that while few directors care more deeply about the theatrical moviegoing experience, or the continuing life of celluloid film production and exhibition, Tarantino has also started turning his movies into TV miniseries. About year after The Hateful Eight premiered in theaters — in an old-school roadshow that included screenings in the rare 70mm format — he recut the movie into a TV show that is now available on Netflix as The Hateful Eight: Extended Version.

Word on the street is Tarantino is interested in doing something similar with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, his latest cinematic effort. That rumor has now been confirmed by the film’s star, Brad Pitt, in an interview withThe New York Times. Pitt said Tarantino has indeed been “talking about” making an Extended Version for Hollywood — and called the whole thing an “arousing idea.”

Pitt explained that a model where movies open in theaters and then show up online in TV version form might have some value to it, in part because a movie can only contain so much stuff and a TV series can be much longer...

So much of these films ends up on the cutting room floor because they just don’t fit in that box. That’s why I think it’s interesting that Tarantino took Hateful Eight and ostensibly repurposed it as a three-part series. It’s almost the best of both worlds: You have the cinema experience that exists, but you can actually put more content in the series format.

I didn’t love the miniseries version of The Hateful Eight, which really wasn’t all that extended from the film. But I am very into seeing more of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I went and saw the theatrical cut again last night and fell in love with it all over again. I want a 10-episode version of this material. I want one episode that’s like a day in the life of the hippies wandering Los Angeles. I want an episode just about Al Pacino’s character, producer Marvin Schwarz. I want one episode that’s just shirtless Brad Pitt fixing a broken TV antenna. C’mon Tarantino, give us all ya got. In the meantime, the theatrical version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is still in theaters.